Millions of students across the United States spent their summers in learning and enrichment programs, many of which employed intensive tutoring designed to bring math and reading scores up to grade level.

These efforts can be important and life-changing, yet research finds that increased learning time alone will not be enough to recover from the pandemic’s devastating effects on learning.

Recent data out of the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University demonstrates that simply offering more instruction for students is insufficient, in part because it fails to account for each student’s pace of learning. Remarkably, researchers have determined that even an extra five years of schooling would still leave a quarter of students behind on 12th grade math and reading benchmarks. Despite this evidence, many of our COVID-19 recovery dollars are being spent on interventions that emphasize high-dosage tutoring rather than other potential strategies.

As lead researcher at Breakthrough Collaborative, a national nonprofit building supportive out-of-school-time learning communities to improve educational equity, I recently had the opportunity to closely study an after-school math tutoring program our organization piloted during the 2021-22 school year.

That experience showed me that high-dosage tutoring can't be the only tool we offer students after the disruptions of COVID-19. A successful approach must engage social-emotional learning (SEL), adapt to actual, real-world student needs, and incorporate community support, so that the burdens don't fall exclusively on students and teachers.

So — what does that look like?

We must go beyond dosage-dependent tutoring programs, and center the social and emotional needs of students. David G. Gil, late professor of social policy at the Florence Heller School for Advanced Studies in Social Welfare at Brandeis University, argued that individuals can only reach their full potential when human needs such as psychological safety are met.

Unfortunately, recent data demonstrates that the pandemic placed huge strains on the mental health and well-being of students, teachers and principals alike.

The good news is that SEL programs have been proven to have a powerful effect on students’ coping skills while also positively impacting academic achievement. The bad news is that SEL has become highly politicized in recent years. Opponents have misleadingly conflated SEL with critical race theory, and several states have passed legislation designed to limit its use in schools. Nevertheless, the research shows educators and parents should continue to advocate for SEL, and disregard the political noise that accompanies it.

Any program that is in service to students must respond to their ongoing and changing needs. In the middle of our after-school math tutoring pilot, we held focus groups with students and families to hear their feedback, with the intention of adjusting the program if necessary.

Through these focus groups, staff at one of our sites learned that students needed more community- and relationship-building time, and more time for homework support, even if that meant fewer hours of tutoring. As a result, program leaders changed their model, reducing tutoring time and adding lessons on math identity and SEL through math contexts.

This pivot meant that our tutoring program no longer qualified as “high-dosage,” but that trade-off was amply justified. This site was able to maintain a strong after-school attendance rate of 79 percent — impressive given that maintaining attendance after school is notoriously challenging — and their students’ average math gains surpassed their expected growth at the end of the year.

Our schools cannot and should not do this work alone. Much of the burden of student pandemic recovery is landing on our educators and children, two groups of people who were pushed to the limits these past few years.

Ideas to increase instructional time, like extending the school year and boosting classroom time during the day, are logical ones, but these ideas continue to place the burden on students and their teachers. This approach also ignores the fact that programs such as the Massachusetts Extended Learning Time Initiative, which provides funding for as much as 300 hours of additional instruction time per year, had no statistically significant impact on student achievement, and produced higher levels of teacher and student fatigue.

One avenue to support and extend the good work schools are doing is to leverage community-based organizations, particularly those with staff who have similar backgrounds to the students they serve. Breakthrough has seen this firsthand, as we intentionally recruit college-aged teaching fellows who mirror the diversity of our students, resulting in strong relationships and sense of belonging.

Research has proven the powerful benefits experienced by students who are taught by same-race teachers. According to that research, Black students with at least one Black teacher in kindergarten through third grade are 13 percent more likely to graduate from high school and 19 percent more likely to enroll in college. One plausible reason for this finding may be that Black teachers are serving as role models for their students.

Support can’t stop after graduation. The reality we face is that more students will leave high school with gaps in knowledge than in pre-pandemic times. That means we must also support this generation of young people further into adulthood.

We should consider how wraparound services can be provided to young adults as they navigate life after high school, and prioritize postsecondary initiatives like college success programs that partner with young people to help them transition into adulthood and reach their fullest potential.

Given the setbacks students are facing after the pandemic, it can be tempting to rely on solutions that increase instructional time, but a variety of solutions to support our students will be necessary to set them up for success in school and in life. As we look beyond the current crisis, let’s ensure we are taking into account all of our students’ needs, and not limiting our interventions to intensive instruction alone.

How would you react if you learned that one of your students felt that you don’t treat them like a full person, with a life and responsibilities beyond the classroom?

This is a real scenario we encountered during a focus group last school year with a group of high school students in Florida who were asked to provide feedback on their teachers. My colleagues at the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) were there to gather data on how teachers can help students thrive by focusing on the learning conditions they have the power to create within their classrooms.

One student candidly shared that he felt like his teachers weren’t invested in him as a human being, because the amount of homework that he was assigned didn't take into account his commitments outside the classroom and other barriers to studying.

But through the practices of social-emotional learning — specifically, SEL for adults — this challenge became an opportunity, and the teachers at this school leaned into a process of reflection, collaboration and ongoing feedback from students that supported a shift in their approach. They began to view assignments and learning holistically, and started taking into account the students' lives and external challenges.

We’ve seen time and time again that when we provide educators the support and tools they need ... they’re able to convert that into better outcomes for their students.

This may seem like a small change, but we’ve seen time and time again that when we provide educators the support and tools they need to form stronger relationships and build empathy, they’re able to convert that into better outcomes for their students.

The value of the implementation of SEL practices for children has become widely discussed and recognized. But if our goal is to help students reach their full potential, we must prioritize the health and well-being of our educators too. James Baldwin once aptly said, “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” During this back-to-school season, this quote serves as an important reminder. After all, teachers are the adults with whom children spend the most time outside of their homes. Building a comprehensive support system for adults in schools will require us to change how we think about and value educators. This year, let’s make progress on this front by implementing more SEL for adults to create a positive learning experience for students and educators alike.

So, what steps can we take to prioritize the well-being of our educators and put adult SEL into practice?

Building Community

One way is to invest time in building a strong and supportive community among teachers.

In recent years, many teachers have felt a sense of hopelessness and cynicism as they return to schools with limited resources to address the increased social, emotional and academic needs of students. Creating opportunities for educators to connect, build community and learn together during staff meetings or smaller group collaboratives can alleviate feelings of isolation and provide much-needed mutual support. Professional development can be about much more than just individual growth — it can also elevate our common humanity and celebrate our basic human need for connection, mentorship and accountability.

Even the simple practice of building in a welcome or opening activity in a meeting could go a long way. That kind of exercise allows time and space for a quick check-in among colleagues prior to jumping into the business of the day, which can strengthen the reality that we are human beings first, even before we are educators.

Practicing Mindfulness

Exercises to improve educator mindfulness can also be a game-changer, as they reduce job stress and burnout while promoting positive interactions with students. When educators can prioritize their well-being, they become even more effective at supporting their students' growth.

Educators can yield positive results by adding in opportunities for intentional reflection. Even just taking a few minutes at the beginning and end of each day to set intentions and consider what went well and what can be adjusted can help prevent emotional exhaustion. In addition, school and district leaders can incorporate mindfulness practices into professional development sessions to support a culture of well-being in educational environments. By dedicating time and effort to practices that center educators, they prioritize opportunities that enhance their quality of life and positively influence the overall classroom atmosphere.

Increasing Access to Resources

Although individual practices such as mindfulness can make a difference, to truly improve educators’ day-to-day experience, we need to build comprehensive networks of support, including access to resources.

Schools continue to struggle with chronic understaffing while educators are left to manage overwhelming workloads, burnout, low pay and unrealistic demands. These are problems that no educator can solve on their own, which is why it is crucial to prioritize time and space for open conversations between staff and leadership. By offering resources such as counseling and mental health support to staff, schools can create healthier environments for both students and teachers.

Picture this: a classroom filled with engaged students who feel seen, valued and supported to achieve their highest potential. What would it take to get there?

For one thing, it requires an educator with the knowledge of and access to tools to help students thrive, an educator whose passion for teaching is nurtured — not extinguished. It requires knowing each student's strengths, fears and dreams to better tailor instructional approaches and connect with them more deeply. It means having the emotional bandwidth and skillset to understand students on a more personal level, to model social-emotional competencies and equip students with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.

This is the positive learning environment we can create if we introduce adults to SEL and help them implement it in their lives. And it isn’t confined by classroom walls. Adults can more easily foster effective learning environments for their students by integrating SEL practices into their routines and understanding their own social and emotional development as an ongoing journey.

Investments in adult SEL are investments in the heart of education — the educators themselves.

Adult SEL helps educators develop professionally, collaborate effectively with colleagues, and form authentic partnerships with caregivers and students, creating stronger communities. When we take action to improve the emotional well-being of educators, we support their personal growth, reaffirm their sense of self-worth and empower them to explore their identity to find deeper satisfaction in their profession, reinforcing their commitment to stay and continue to enrich the lives of their students. Investments in adult SEL are investments in the heart of education — the educators themselves — and create a brighter, more empathetic and fulfilling learning journey for everyone involved.

So this back-to-school season and beyond, let’s prioritize SEL — not just for our children, but for their educators and caregivers, too — and change how we think about and approach the well-being of our teachers and students.